More Cases of Brain Disease from Football Blows

More Cases of Brain Disease from Football Blows

Imagine reaching the top of your profession as a 27-year-old.

Teammates cry tears of joy. Confetti falls from above. A trophy¹ is held high like a new baby. And your hometown holds a parade through the streets to honor you and your team.

Then 10 years later, you can barely walk down the steps of your home. Your wife has to remind you of recent conversations.

That’s the life of Antwaan Randle-El. He retired² four years ago after a nine-year career in the National Football League (NFL) as a wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins.

Randle-El was known for being a great athlete. At the University of Indiana, he was a quarterback. Then he transitioned to wide receiver in the NFL. He threw an important touchdown pass in Pittsburgh’s 2006 Super Bowl victory.

Randle-El was 32 when he retired.

Now, in a recent story published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Randle-El says he wishes he had never played football.

As a former football player showing the effects of physical and head trauma³ that came from head collisions during the game, Randle-El is not alone.

But he is one of few ex-players who say they would not play football if they had a chance to start their lives over again.

Randle-El’s story seems like one of the characters in “Concussion⁴,” a movie starring actor Will Smith.

A concussion is an injury that happens when the brain slams against the inside of the skull⁵. It can happen when two football players collide or when a soccer player uses his or her head to propel a soccer ball. It can happen to anyone who hits their head on a hard surface or object.

The film follows Dr. Bennet Omalu as he researches the brain disease that came to be called chronic⁶ traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Omalu, from Nigeria, worked as a medical examiner in Pittsburgh. His job was to examine bodies to determine the cause of death. That is what we call an autopsy⁷ in English.

Omalu became interested in brain trauma and disease while studying in the United States. He discovered CTE while performing an autopsy on Mike Webster. Webster also played with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1970s and 1980s.

Omalu says he did not know Webster was a famous football player when he examined him.

“I did not know what football was. I did not know what the NFL was. In fact, I did not even know what a quarterback was. I wondered why it was called football because they did not kick. They used their hands. It should have been called handball.”

In one scene in the film, Omalu shows what happens to the brain during a collision. He shakes a raw egg inside a glass jar. That is how most people make scrambled⁹ eggs. It is also a good demonstration¹⁰ of how a healthy brain gets damaged. Even with helmets on, football players suffer multiple “scrambling” collisions per game.

Over the course of a career, these hits (and scrambles) add up.

Webster died of a heart attack in 2002. He suffered from depression and dementia before his death.

While most of the story detailed¹¹ in “Concussion” has been told before, the film’s wide distribution and star power offers insight into the dangers of a football career.

Webster’s story was told in a GQ article in 2009, and Omalu was a key figure in the PBS documentary League of Denial in 2013.

In a story about the film in Sports Illustrated¹², Emily Kaplan writes “Will Smith’s familiar charm helps makes a complicated and uncomfortable topic accessible, with head trauma being explained on the order of a ninth-grade biology book.”

The film tries to make football fans pay attention to science. 

Omalu says he is not a football fan. Omalu’s story shows that an outsider can make a difference in a new society.

Researchers and doctors have had experience with football players and other athletes in contact sports who had lingering brain problems. But Omalu was able to look at Webster’s brain trauma with fresh eyes.

Omalu gave an interview to Frontline, a respected investigative news program. Omalu said the brains looked similar to those of boxers¹³ like Muhammad Ali, who suffered repeated blows to the head.

They were also similar to those of people who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease – except for one factor. They were still young and healthy.

The contradiction helped Omalu realize he had discovered something new.

He had no loyalty¹⁴ to the NFL when he wrote a paper explaining his discovery in the journal Neurosurgery. But the film shows how the league argued that Omalu had made up his research.

Omalu says some people told him he was “attacking the American way of life.”

Omalu eventually became known as the doctor who could definitively¹⁵ diagnose CTE in football players. And the cases kept coming. He saw samples from the brains of Terry Long, Andre Waters and Justin Strzelczyk – all former players who died young. And they all had CTE.

The study turned out not to be wrong. Webster was not unique.

And eventually, the NFL, college football and high school football teams had to re-think the way they handled concussions¹⁶.

As the concussion story gained notice, the NFL started to take head injuries more seriously. For example, a doctor who is not paid by the team or league must be on each sideline. The doctor is responsible for stopping the game if a player shows signs of a head injury.

There are helmets with devices that can measure the force of a collision.

Even with the changes, football is still risky¹⁷. News came out in late January that Tyler Sash had an advanced case of CTE. Sash was a member of the New York Giants team that won the Super Bowl in 2012. He died of a drug overdose in September 2015 at the age of 27.

Many athletes are willing to sacrifice their bodies and their futures¹⁸ for a chance to play in the NFL or the Super Bowl.

In 2014, ESPN surveyed more than 300 active NFL players and found out that 85 percent would play in the Super Bowl with a concussion. 

But after the work of Omalu, the perception is changing. There are more stories coming from athletes like Randle-El.

In 2015, after a strong first season, Chris Borland retired from the NFL at the age of 24. He had to return about $400,000 to his team, the San Francisco 49ers, when he quit.

When he announced his retirement¹⁹, Borland told ESPN “if there were no possibility of brain damage, I'd still be playing."

Omalu’s work, and the work of doctors like him, resulted in a small compromise by the NFL.

In 2015 a lawsuit²⁰ was settled after years of negotiations²¹. Almost $1 billion will be made available for more than 4,500 former players who are suffering from brain injuries related to playing football. Individual players could receive up to $5 million.

Words in This Story

autopsy – n. an examination of a dead body to find out the cause of death

concession²² – n. the act of giving up something or doing something in order to reach agreement

chronic – adj. continuing or occurring again and again for a long time

concussion – n. an injury to the brain that is caused by something hitting the head very hard

scramble⁸ - v. to move or act quickly to do, find, or get something often before someone else does?

contradiction – n. a difference or disagreement between two things which means that both cannot be true

encephalopathy – n. disease or damage to the brain

linger – v. to continue to exist as time passes

pathologist – n. a doctor who examines bodies to find out the cause of death

confetti – n. small pieces of colored paper or plastic that are used as a decoration

trauma – n. a serious injury to a person's body

distribution – n. the act of giving or delivering something to people

1 trophy   

n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品

参考例句：

• The cup is a cherished trophy of the company.那只奖杯是该公司很珍惜的奖品。
• He hung the lion's head as a trophy.他把那狮子头挂起来作为狩猎纪念品。

2 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

4 concussion   

n.脑震荡；震动

参考例句：

• He was carried off the field with slight concussion.他因轻微脑震荡给抬离了现场。
• She suffers from brain concussion.她得了脑震荡。

5 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

6 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

7 autopsy   

n.尸体解剖；尸检

参考例句：

• They're carrying out an autopsy on the victim.他们正在给受害者验尸。
• A hemorrhagic gut was the predominant lesion at autopsy.尸检的主要发现是肠出血。

8 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

9 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

11 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

12 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。

13 boxers   

n.拳击短裤；（尤指职业）拳击手( boxer的名词复数 )；拳师狗

参考例句：

• The boxers were goaded on by the shrieking crowd. 拳击运动员听见观众的喊叫就来劲儿了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The boxers slugged it out to the finish. 两名拳击手最后决出了胜负。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

15 definitively   

adv.决定性地，最后地

参考例句：

• None of the three super-states could be definitively conquered even by the other two in combination. 三个超级国家中的任何一国都不可能被任何两国的联盟所绝对打败。 来自英汉文学
• Therefore, nothing can ever be definitively proved with a photograph. 因此，没有什么可以明确了一张照片。 来自互联网

16 concussions   

n.震荡( concussion的名词复数 )；脑震荡；冲击；震动

参考例句：

• People who have concussions often trouble thinking or remembering. 患脑震荡的人通常存在思考和记忆障碍。 来自互联网
• Concussions also make a person feel very tired or angry. 脑震荡也会使人感觉疲倦或愤怒。 来自互联网

17 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

18 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

19 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

20 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

21 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

22 concession   

n.让步，妥协；特许(权)

参考例句：

• We can not make heavy concession to the matter.我们在这个问题上不能过于让步。
• That is a great concession.这是很大的让步。